It's perhaps something like paranoia that keeps him out here. Not that he thinks people are plotting against him, but he feels the need to confirm, over and over again, that this is the Starfleet that he knows, that the people here aren't tense in a way that would indicate surveillance or restrictions on freedom of speech and action. One can tell a great deal just about how the people in a world interact with one another.

"Focus is good enough for detail work," he says, "but when inspiration is required, the mind works better on a subconscious level. Meaning that conscious distraction helps knock things loose." Also true; certain kinds of work he gets done better in a crowd, but alone.